Construction with the new All Wheels Skate Park at the Strathroy Fairgrounds continues which started in May and is expected to be completed in late July or early August. A little hitch in the process though as reported at council this week. The project ran into some challenges recently with excavating.
Director of Community Services Rob Lilbourne says, the original general geotechnical data showed top soil as deep as 8 to 16 inches. That data however did not identify significant pockets of top soil at times as deep as 4 feet. This means more engineered fill to replace the unexpected amount of top soil, and more time to do it. Also excavation found footings and other debris not removed from when the race track and grandstands were decommissioned and removed years ago.
This means an overage of $50,000 to $100,000, which the Director of Finance, indicated would be covered by the Canada Community – Build Fund which is the old gas tax fund. The Director assured council this extra work would not affect the integrity of the park itself. Council approved the financial re-allocation.